Indie Game HQ’s Top 5 Most Anticipated Indie Games of 2013

2013 is certainly shaping up to be a memorable year for indie gaming, but honestly every year brings a slew of great titles which makes it hard to just narrow it down to the top 5. We at Indie Game HQ had a tough time agreeing on this list, but we feel these are our top 5 most anticipated games of 2013.

Cube World:

Leading off our list and with good reason is Cube World from Wollay. This game has been in the spotlight for many months now with people monitoring his blog for the slightest update. Cube World is taking aspects of all the old school RPGs, namely Legend of Zelda, adding in improved voxel-based graphics akin to Minecraft to create the best of both worlds. What is not to like?

For all those looking at this as another Minecraft, don’t count on it. Aside from being voxel-based there isn’t much influence. Cube World will not feature digging or mining as many of us enjoy in Minecraft. Instead, it will have much more of a focus on combat, quests, and adventures. Cube World aims to refresh voxel-based gaming by taking what 3D Dot Game Heroes did a step further.

Owlboy:

D-Pad Studio has a hit in the making here with Owlboy. From the gorgeous graphics to the best soundtrack of any game for 2013, they have what it takes to succeed. Owlboy pits you as Otus, an apprentice owl from the village of Vellie. Once the village comes under attack by sky pirates it is up to you to defend.

Owlboy offers massive dungeons to explore, immense skies to roam freely, and enormous creatures to slay. In addition to the great gameplay, Owlboy features pixel art from veteran pixel artist SnakePixel and quite honestly, some of the best I’ve ever seen! It was really difficult to put this second behind Cube World, but it was extremely close.

Stardew Valley:

Stardew Valley is the first commercial title from Eric Barone, or more commonly known as ConcernedApe. The game is an open-ended, country-life RPG that supports up to 4 player co-op. It is as if old school Zelda and Harvest Moon had an illegitimate child that eventually had an illegitimate child with Terraria. After that series of unadulterated baby-making we ended up with this beautiful game.

Each world of Stardew Valley has the same beginning area, but the vast caves are uniquely generated each and every time you start a new character. As you progress deeper into the abyss you’ll stumble across new environments dangerous monsters, rare valuables, and various resources for crafting. Overall, Stardew Valley has a lot of potential, considering it already looks this good with release so far away.

Asylum:

Agustin Cordes, developer behind Scratches, has returned to the forefront of gaming with his upcoming psychological horror game Asylum. The game takes place in an asylum (shocking I know) known as Hanwell Mental Institute. You must explore the vast asylum to discover the past atrocities that occurred. As you progress the disturbing storyline unravels, drawing you deeper into the story.

With around 100 rooms to explore, Asylum provides over 15 hours of horrifying gameplay. Senscape is aiming to provide the ultimate experience of fear with a game that promises to haunt you for the rest of your life. Asylum is currently hosting a Kickstarter for those interested. They currently have over $71,000 of our their $100,666 goal with 15 days remaining.

Secrets of Grindea:

Secrets of Grindea is an old-school RPG game from Pixel Ferrets that features co-op with up to 4 players. The world of Grindea often pays tribute and even parodies many of the classic RPGs for the SNES. Pixel Ferrets has countless hours of gameplay planned with Secrets of Grindea. The game features thousands of items, a lengthy storyline, and seemingly endless amounts of side quests.

Pixel Ferrets looks to be paying a homage to the classic RPGs that shaped many of our childhoods. I have high hopes for this game, and I intend on putting a ton of hours into this game, grinding to get all the loot. This game has been on everyone’s radar for awhile now, but it seems like it is getting closer and closer to a launch.

Narrowing that list down to just 5 was insanely difficult because of all the great titles expected in 2013. Because of this we had to have a few games recognized as honorable mentions. Epica Rex, Exoplanet: First Contact, Edge of Space, and Delver’s Drop are all certainly worthy of making this list, and we wait in anticipation for their releases.. You can’t go wrong with any of these titles, and we can certainly expect to see tons more quality titles releasing in 2013.

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